That Time I Hosted My First Group Run

Truth be told I am a solo runner through and through. That is not to say I haven’t had my fair share of group runs, and can say I even once ran a 10 mile race with someone stride for stride. But those are the exceptions, not the rule. There is something about being alone, going at my own pace that I really enjoy. And if I’m being completely honest, a part of me does get concerned about being the slow one. Even though anytime I have participated in a group run I have surprised myself by my speed. Maybe there is something to being pushed by others around you?

Anyway, I digress…..

I say this, because when the Love Run Half Marathon asked me to co-host a group run with them I was beyond nervous. I rarely participate in group runs, and they want me to co-host?!?!?

Some back story as to why they asked me. I run a blog called Running Philly. It’s dedicated to keeping Philadelphia informed of all things running related. As a part of the work I do on that blog I advertise for the Love Run Half Marathon as an ambassador for them. My reach on that blog has gone so far that I have consistently been one of their highest reaching ambassadors year after year. So they approached me to use my blog reach to organize and co-host a course preview run with them. I was very happy to do it.

So on Saturday, February 25th we set out to host Philadelphians along a 3, 6 and 9 mile preview run of the half marathon course.

And I am happy to report the run was a great success!

In total, I counted close to 130 people who showed up for this run. With only 2 weeks to plan, I couldn’t be happier with how many people came out for the run. It helped that on a Saturday in February it was 70 degrees out!

More importantly I am very proud of what I have built Running Philly to be. It is a passion project of mine that I work very hard on. And to see that work be transitioned to real life results is very exciting. The Love Run race director even asked if I had a full time job. (Which I do). I am happy to see that I have built the blog so big that the outside world believes it is an income generator (it soon will be).

What was funny is my blog does also have a negative connotation to some in Philadelphia. A while back I wrote a pretty honest open letter speaking out against the most popular running store in Philadelphia on how I felt they botched a race. Needless to say a lot of people did not like it, as I was challenging what I call the “running elite” in Philadelphia. As a result when some people see my blog logo they tend to think bad things.

I say this because as we were starting the run the race director thanked me for organizing and referred to me as the “best running blog in Philadelphia”. I could hear a few groans and snickers in the crowd of the people who very much still hold that grudge. But it’s all in good fun, if you can’t handle a little criticism that is not something I should worry myself about.

Either way I am very excited that I could host such a successful run when, for all intents and purposes, I am an advocate of solo running. I look forward to the next Running Philly run.